Stewart's legislative update

By Sen. Roger Stewart
Special to the Herald

October 05, 2006 10:00 am

— I believe a full-time job should pay enough to support a family. That’s the best way to encourage work. I also think paying people a decent wage makes much more sense than using government programs to subsidize companies that fail to pay a living wage.
I know many of you feel the same way. Few people see the sense of today’s situation where a single mom with two kids, working full time at $5.15 an hour, is still trapped in poverty. There are many hard-working Iowa parents in just that situation — working one or two full-time jobs and still living in poverty.
It has been nine years since Iowa’s minimum-wage workers had a raise. If the minimum wage of 1968 had kept pace with inflation, it would be $9 an hour today! That’s money that Iowa workers could use to care for their families. That’s money that should be circulating in our communities.
Moreover, if the minimum wage had kept up with inflation, our social safety net wouldn’t be so overburdened. I strongly support the idea of a minimum wage. We need wage standards that are fair — and we need to enforce those wage standards to prevent companies that exploit workers from being rewarded in the marketplace.
Nineteen states currently have a minimum wage higher than the federal standard, and Michigan and Arkansas will join the ranks shortly. Other states will likely do the same by approving ballot initiatives this November.
Here in Iowa, a clear majority of Iowans support an increase in the minimum wage. An honest day’s pay for an honest day’s work is a tradition we don’t want to give up. I hope the new Legislature will get serious about encouraging and rewarding work by giving many hard-working Iowans a long overdue — and much deserved — pay raise.

Job training offers secure future for Iowa workers
I believe high-quality education and training are the building blocks of a safe, secure future for Iowa workers.
I’m worried that a shortage of skilled workers could choke economic growth in Iowa. It could undermine businesses, erode the earning power of workers and even reverse the progress we’ve made. It’s happened in South Dakota and North Dakota — and it could happen here unless we continue to change the way we do business in Iowa.
The “Iowa Works Campaign,” a coalition of business, education, labor and civic leaders, is challenging the state’s political leaders to deal with this looming shortage of skilled workers. The coalition found that if present trends continue, Iowa could have 150,000 more jobs than workers by the year 2012. That won’t happen, of course, because if those skilled workers aren’t here, those new jobs won’t be either. They will go elsewhere.
The coalition’s newly released report also shows that within 10 years, almost 45 percent of all occupations in the state will require education or training beyond high school. Some of Iowa’s most critical industries already have trouble finding qualified workers. That makes them less competitive, reduces productivity and makes them less likely to expand in Iowa.
There are at least two silver linings to this troubling report.
First, the jobs that need to be filled are good jobs that pay well enough to support a family. That’s great news for the many working Iowans struggling to get by on low-wage jobs.
Second, the Legislature has recently taken steps to boost funding in critical job-training programs. For example, after years of double-digit tuition increases at our community colleges and universities, I pushed hard again during the 2006 legislative session to make higher education more affordable. We increased funding for Iowa’s community colleges by $12 million and for our three state universities by $40 million.
The workers who will drive Iowa’s economy by the year 2012 are already hard at work. We must make sure that the opportunities to improve their skills are accessible and affordable at every stage of their working lives. Working with local schools, community colleges and universities, we should make available clearly defined pathways to the jobs of the future.
We should also expand job-training efforts and target high-growth, high-skill industries. As we do more in this area, we must also provide accountability and continually adjust our investments in accordance with the best possible information.
The greatest investment a state can make is in its human capital. These job-skill investments should be the centerpiece of Iowa’s economic development policy.
I pledge to work with our new Governor and to continue working across party lines in the Legislature to address this important issue. Together, we can ensure a safe, secure future for Iowa workers.
Roger Stewart, a Democrat from Preston, is a member of the Iowa Senate representing District 13.